Though he made a number of appearances during the Olympics, Emmanuel Macron largely retreated to his holiday residence in southern France for the duration of the Games. From there, having called a political truce as Paris put on a triumphant sporting spectacle, the president hoped to plot a path out of the self-inflicted chaos created by his decision to call a snap election in the middle of the summer.
No such luck. The Olympic athletes are long departed, and the traditional September rentrée looms. But no new government is in place – the longest such hiatus since immediately following the second world war – and bitter acrimony reigns. This week, Mr Macron used his presidential prerogative to rule out any candidate for prime minister put forward by the New Popular Front (NFP), the leftwing alliance that by a short head came first in the July poll.
